


Roof Squad

by SalomeWeil



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Angst, Based on a Tumblr Post, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I have two other WIP and I don't know what I was thinking, Superheroes, Swearing, like MI5 or leverage, or hackers lololol, please forgive me for starting more fics and someone send over an exterminator, rey has dealt with her issues better, snoke is an abusive fuck, superheroes - no powers, superheroes who use tech, this is the roof squad, we have a plot bunny problem over here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-17 10:58:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14187417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SalomeWeil/pseuds/SalomeWeil
Summary: When Kylo Ren was convinced by his boss to don his old name and infiltrate the group that's been rearranging the corporate world business by business, he never dreamed it might open his eyes to the possibility that he deserves more than he's been given. Now, can Rey and her team prevail over the evil First Order, or will her connection to their newest member, Ben Solo, prove to be their downfall?





	1. Set the Scene (Prologue)

______________________________

  
  


“You’re such a bitch! Why are you such a bitch. God  _ damn _ it, Ben.”

 

He turned around to look at her, a small smirk on his lips. Playful. Not quite simpering, not quite salty. 

 

“How am I the bitch again?”

 

“You know what the fuck I mean, Solo.”

 

“Rose, you’ve been calling me a bitch every other word since I joined the team and I have yet to figure out what it is I’m doing that warrants the term. How on god’s green earth could I possibly know what the fuck you mean?”

 

Rose whuffed some of her hair from her eyes as she bent to her task again. “God. Go away. Isn’t there someone else you can bother right now?”

 

“No. You’re the one fixing the carabiners. I can’t do my job without them. I need to do my job as soon as possible. So if you fix them, but I’ve gone away to bother someone else, we all lose precious time and risk the mission.”

 

“At least shut up.” 

 

“You’re the one who started the conversation.”

 

“And you’re the one who broke the god damn carabiners in the first -”

 

A crackle of static came over Rose’s earpiece.

 

“Leave him alone for once, Rose?”

 

“Rey, you officially suck.”

 

“Rose, you love me. Now finish what you’re doing in relative silence, please. Someone is approaching the roof access and we need you to remain undetected, if that’s at  _ all _ possible.”

 

Rose could feel Solo watching her, that amused smile still on his fucking gorgeous, abnormal face, and gave an ugly sigh. “I’m done anyway. But tell your boyfriend to shut the fuck up and stop ruining my equipment from now on. If he hadn’t had a fucking panic attack -”

 

“Thank you, Rose. You’re wonderful. I’ll check in with Ben. And he’s not my -”

 

“Boyfriend. Whatever. Tico out.”

 

Rose stood up, dusted off her knees, and stepped right into Ben Solo’s personal bubble. The amusement dropped from his expression and he started to step away, but she only crowded him more.

 

“Rey’s going to dial you. She says someone’s approaching the roof. I’m out of here. And  _ don’t _ break my equipment again, understand? We don’t have  _ time _ for your shit!”

 

Ben raised his hands in surrender and watched her move away from him just as abruptly before disappearing into the shadows on the other side of the roof access. Just in time, too. The door began to screech with the effort of whoever was opening it. 

 

“You got a plan, Smith?” he murmured nervously. To his relief, there was the bright, sunny voice of the squad’s handler in his ear. 

 

“Of course. Just follow my lead. Finn filled me in while Rose was finishing with you.”

 

“I hate how you hear everything,” he said softly, obviously disgruntled.

 

“No, you don’t. If I couldn’t hear everything I wouldn’t be able to save your arse as consistently as I do.”

 

“True,” he conceded. 

 

“Thanks,” she said dryly. “Now shut up and listen.”

 

Ben Solo shut up and listened and wondered, not for the first time, how the hell he’d gotten himself into such a mess.

 

______________________________

 

To each other, they were affectionately the Roof Squad. To everyone else, they were some kind of modern superheroes: Robin Hood, or Guy Fawkes - even though the comparison really broke down there - or the bizarre result of the 99 percent having simply had enough. 

 

Some groups called them devils. Some called them saviors. They called themselves a virus, constantly mutating, always evolving to better infiltrate a system that simply couldn’t keep up, it was so enmeshed in preserving the status quo. 

 

A rebellion, a resistance - whatever they really were, they were doing some good. They searched for corruption and attacked it without mercy. They redistributed wealth in the form of adjusted business practices and jailed lobbyists. Unfortunately, there were only four of them - sometimes five or six, depending on the size and importance of the mission. 

 

Ben was the newest member - he was also the largest and grunt work was easy for him. So, he found himself physically doing more than the others on a typical mission. Rey was good with engineering - whether it was engineering electronics or people or places, it didn’t matter. So she was usually the voice in their ears, directing them with an ease Ben was sure he’d never have, despite his background and the accolades he’d received, once upon a time. 

 

Finn was the charmer of the group. Not suave - that was their sometimes-man Poe’s area of expertise. No, Finn was all sincerity and charm and it served him well in dealing with the people that could pave the way into their missions. Rose...she was a spitfire. Sweet at the outset, and saltier the more you got to know her. Tough. She was good with her hands and her mind, and she usually volunteered for seeing Rey’s visions to completion. 

 

No one else mattered. They got an idea, planned a mission, and executed it. 

 

They got shit done, no matter how many names Finn got wrong, or swear words Rose employed, or how many pieces of equipment Ben broke in his anxiety. And most of it was thanks to Rey. 

 

If any of them were a real superhero, it was her. 

 

And if their real villain existed, it was him.

 

It surely had to be - the poor little rich boy who threw his family away for an abusive mentor who got in his head and fucked him up so badly that when the opportunity to infiltrate the group that was slowly chiseling away at his big, bad corporation arrived, he’d practically jumped at the chance. 

 

Though he wasn’t entirely sure now whether it was because he was desperate to enact revenge on them, or desperate to escape the life in which he’d been trapped.

 

He could still remember Snoke’s hands on his shoulders, his voice quiet and sinister at first, then rising in volume until he was raging right in his ears, until Ben was ready to claw at his own head to stop the man’s vicious screams from penetrating any further - 

 

_ “A group of - what, rebels? They’re scum and you’re going to teach them to respect my name - our name - or you’ll find yourself with the nothing you started with, my boy! Nothing but a name and an ugly face and now look at you - my pride and joy - defeated by a bunch of scavengers! Bottom-feeders who think they can change the world with a few keystrokes and well-placed smiles - boy, are you listening to me? Do you hear me!?” _

 

“Ben! Are you listening?”

 

Ben jerked to attention and made a small noise of acknowledgement. He heard Rey sigh.

 

“Good. Thought I’d lost you there for a minute. You know, Ben, after this mission is over we really need to look into getting you some therapy.”

 

“Therapy?” he questioned, confusion lacing his tone.

 

“Yes, therapy. For your PTSD.”

 

“I don’t have -”

 

“Of course not,” Rey replied coolly. “And I’m the bloody queen. Now remember, if you can get close enough to our rooftop visitors, you can snag a badge that will allow you access to the safe without me having to hack in and leave a trail.”

 

“But won’t they put two and two together when they realize the badge went missing -”

 

“Not if you drop it along the trail. They’ll assume it was lost. Besides, you only need to swipe it for a copy of the code. No need to use the badge itself. That way the employee won’t come under direct fire for having hijacked anything. He’ll just be the idiot who lost his badge.”

 

“And lost his job because of what was done with the badge,” Ben pointed out. 

 

He heard her talking furiously on another line. “Finn, back me up, here! Okay - yes, got it.” Her voice returned in full force. “It’s okay, Ben. Swipe the badge, get me the code, that’s all you have to do. I can use it as a jumping off point for hacking into the system. We can alleviate any suspicion that might fall on him  _ and  _ leave less of a trail.”

 

Ben felt the tension in his chest ease a little and wondered when it had happened to him - when had he started caring about what happened to nameless peons? Or had he never really stopped caring, and he was just awake to the empathy that seemed to flood his system now whenever he saw someone in harm’s way?

 

Shaking his head at his fancies and with Rey’s voice still in his ear, he moved forward, into the light.

 

_______________________

 

“Did you see the way he jumped those last ten feet? God damn, Solo! Landed on your feet like a fucking cat! I will  _ never _ get tired of watching you move that way.”

 

“Whoa, Finn, your man-crush is showing,” Rose teased him, but she was smiling genuinely and with no ire. Finn laughed, completely unrepentant about how much he sounded like a fanboy and Ben gave an uneasy grin.

 

“We could train together sometime,” he heard himself saying, and both Finn and Rose did a double take. The longer they stared at him, the more the grin faded from his face and Ben found himself looking between them, suddenly uncomfortable.

 

“What’s going on?” Rey asked as she entered the room, a bottle of mineral water in one hand. No, scratch that - it wasn’t mineral water. It was a reused San Pellegrino bottle that she’d had for the last three months. That was Rey, after all. Reduce, reuse, recycle - necessities born first out of need and second out of habit, third out of a desire to save the planet. His smile returned, but it was softer this time.

 

“Solo just offered to train with Finn,” Rose finally said, in control of her faculties once more. She cast a glance at the man sitting next to her - an appreciative glance that Rey and Ben both seemed to notice. “And can I just say, I will spot you anytime.”

 

“Thanks, Rose! You’re the best,” Finn said, bumping shoulders with her. If he noticed Rose blushing, he didn’t say anything. Rey took it upon herself to help out.

 

“Sure you want to spot, Rose? Sure you don’t just want to watch?” Rey asked and Rose was up like a flash and punching Rey on the arm. 

 

“Bitch,” she said, but it was said casually - almost lovingly.

 

_ These weirdos _ , Ben found himself thinking. But it was with a hint of...fondness, if he could call it that.

 

Rey just laughed and Rose stuck out her tongue. “I’m getting a water,” she said to the room. “Anyone want anything?”

 

Finn raised a hand to indicate yes, even as he and Rey settled in a conversation. Rose looked at Ben. He blinked and looked back at her.

 

“Nah. I have to go, anyway,” Ben said. He made to stand and suddenly felt a light pressure on his right arm. He looked down to see Rey had placed a hand on it. 

 

“Stay for a minute?” she asked quietly. Ben’s mouth went dry and he knew his lips were moving, but he didn’t know how to form words. Her eyes had stolen all semblance of intelligence from him and there was just them, just then, in a world all their own.

 

Rose cleared her throat. “I’ll get you a water, Solo. You look  _ parched _ .”

 

Finn snorted and tried to turned his laugh into a cough. He failed miserably. 

 

Ben found himself nodding anyway. “Just for a minute,” he replied, his voice pitched low, just for her.

 

Only for her.

 

__________________________________ 

 

He ended up the last to leave the small apartment. Rose was gone first, with Finn claiming necessary sleep soon after, until it was just Ben and Rey. He lingered at her insistence, he told himself, and tried his best to avoid talking about whatever issues she thought he had -  _ PTSD, you prick, from your abusive asshole of an employer -  _

 

“Ben?”

 

“Sorry,” he murmured, his voice gruff. “I just -”

 

“Drifted off? It happens a lot, doesn’t it?”

 

He didn’t say anything, just looked at her, holding her gaze with an intensity to rival hers. As if he could tell her all he needed to with a look. As if he could convince her not to hate him after...just, after. After he had the proof he needed, after he had gotten what Snoke wanted, after it was all over.

 

After  _ his life  _ was over.

 

Rey was suddenly in front of him, kneeling, holding his face in her hands and he didn’t understand how she did it - how she fucking wrecked him every time, how he could keep it together and play a part around the rest of the team, but around  _ her _ ...he was  _ undone _ .

 

“Ben, Ben. Come back. Wherever it is you go when this happens, come back. You have everything you need  _ right here _ .” 

 

Her voice was so insistent, so intense, that he he couldn’t help but obey. 

 

“You look so sad, all the time,” she was saying and her voice was soft, meant just for him. “And I just wish I knew how to help you. I’d like to try, anyway. Since you joined the team, Ben...you’re all I can think about. You’re all I see,” she admitted. 

 

“The same,” he mumbled suddenly and his voice felt weak, like he hadn’t really used it in years. His real voice. “I feel the same and it’s…”

 

“Scary,” she finished for him. He nodded and her expression softened. “For me, too.”

 

There was a beat of silence, where they were just looking into one another’s eyes, her hands still gently holding his face, and it felt like she was holding him together as they each drew ragged breaths.

 

“For me, too,” she repeated. 

 

______________________________

 

In the dark, in the night, it was easy to give himself over to her light because he was so desperate to see. He was so desperate not to be left alone in the dark, one more time. 

 

But in the day, once the morning sun had risen and cast a blurry, bright haze over the city, through the fog of grey that rested along every rooftop, it was harder. Hard to see what was right and what was wrong, because he didn’t need her as badly. The nightmares didn’t come in the daytime. Or at least, they didn’t used to.

 

Now, faced with Snoke’s wrath and his guard dog’s vicious bite, he thought he never wanted to leave the safety of Rey ever again. At the same time, he wondered what he’d been thinking, risking her against all this. Against everything he’d known for so long and how cruel his real life was. Or was it his other life that was the real one, and this was the one that was dishonest, false, and needed to be wiped away so he could see again?

 

It was getting too easy to be confused and Snoke could see it and so now he was suffering for it and if he’d only listened harder, done better…

 

But listened harder to whom? Done better at what? 

 

It was getting harder and harder to keep it all straight.

 

_______________________________ 

 

“You’re never going to make CEO if you don’t get it together, Ren.”

 

Ben lifted his head from where it had previously lain on his desk and looked up at Hux. He seemed impossibly tall and impossibly pale and impossibly  _ orange _ this morning. It was too much.

 

He laid his head back down.

 

Hux made a noise of disgust and there was the soft  _ thup _ of a take-out coffee cup being set on his desk.

 

“I’ve brought you a gift. It’s your usual. Don’t bother thanking me; gratitude never sounds right coming from you. Gives me the chills, to be honest.”

 

Ben grunted.

 

“We have a meeting with investors this morning. Come on, up. I refuse to believe your early morning with Snoke went that badly.”

 

Ben didn’t bother grunting. Instead, a high-pitched whine exited his throat. There was silence in the office for a beat, then he felt a presence closer to him. Hux gingerly rested a hand on one of his shoulders.

 

“Ren.” The voice was a little softer, even if it didn’t host an ounce of compassion. Ben tried to shrug his hand off, but found he couldn’t quite summon the energy to move again.

 

He was so fucking tired.

 

Tired of Snoke’s bullshit, tired of being a tool, tired of being a tool that wasn’t even being sharpened anymore, that Snoke was probably just getting ready to throw away -

 

“Ren...” Hux said again, and it seemed like maybe there was a promise in the word.

 

At that, he lifted his head.

 

______________________________


	2. Focus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey considers where she's been, where she's going, and what to do about Ben. Either way, the First Corporation has got to go.

_____________________________

 

When Rey Smith was eight years old, she dreamed her parents might still return for her some day. Not soon, necessarily, but some day. She kicked and screamed and refused to be adopted out of the system like some charity case because she  _ had  _ a family, thank you very much, and she was doing ok where she was and she didn’t  _ want _ or  _ need _ new parents. Not like some of the younger kids. Not like the ones who still cried when they went to bed, or waited at the windows every day, making nuisances of themselves.

 

No, when her parents came back, they would find her hard at work. They would find that she’d taught herself to do so much that would make her so helpful around the house, or apartment, or trailer - wherever it was they called home. They’d see she never cried anymore, not for them, because she knew they were coming back - she just  _ knew _ \- and there was no need to cry when you had hope. 

 

When she was eleven, and the nights seemed to get longer as the shadows of her caretakers swept across the walls of their group home in the early hours of the morning, she was able to wrap that hope around her like a blanket. She was able to pray away the fear and longing. She was able to ignore the suspicion that haunted her, in darker moments, that maybe she didn’t have the family she thought she did. That maybe she shouldn’t fight being moved quite so hard - 

 

Then she was sixteen and it was already too late. Too late for reimagining her life, too late for an open mind and heart, too late to recapture the yearning innocence she’d once made fun of in other, luckier children. 

 

Too late for anything except to mouth the same words she’d been screaming since she was a little girl: I  _ have  _ a family. I don’t  _ need  _ a new one. They’re coming  _ back _ for me. 

 

They’re coming back.

 

When she was eighteen, Finn found her. He wasn’t family like she’d imagined, for all those years. He didn’t look like her and he didn’t share all her hopes and dreams, but when he held her he felt like home, or at least an idea of home she’d once had. So when he convinced her to go away with him, to see a little of how her future could be, she went with him. 

 

She never, ever could have predicted the trajectory of the life she lived now. Being a social justice vigilante was so far from what she’d been planning - find her family, get a dog, maybe be a mechanic, or an IT specialist, or something  _ boring _ . 

 

Instead, what Rey had was a family - and she did have a dog, sort of, though he was technically Poe’s; she was even in computer technology for a living; and she had a  _ hobby _ , for god’s sake - working on classic cars was a dream come true! But what she got up to after hours...that was where her life felt like it diverged from reality at times. 

 

After all, it wasn’t every IT specialist who could also claim a secret identity that wasn’t just a username on Tumblr. 

_________________________

 

Rey stared into space moodily as she considered the question she’d just been asked. 

 

“Rey? You still with me?” her therapist asked and she sighed and looked back at the woman. The words echoed her own to Ben just days ago and she glanced away as her mind replayed the memory.

 

“I am,” she said, despite her wandering attention.

 

“Sure, Rey,” Dr. Holdo replied, her expression wry. Rey liked her therapist, but the woman held a patent on the ‘I will always know better than you’ smile. “So, no changes since last time? Nothing special you need to run by me?”

 

“Nope,” Rey replied, popping the ‘p’. She hesitated. Well, it wasn’t entirely true, was it? There was Ben. Ben was new. Surely that qualified her to talk about him...in a roundabout way, naturally, since she never discussed her secret identity with her therapist.

 

The bloody woman probably knew anyway. 

 

“There is...something,” she said. She watched some clouds drift by outside and could feel the peace and strength Dr. Holdo exuded. She’d been seeing the woman for two years - once a week at first, at Finn’s insistence, and now only once a month. It had helped her so much - given her so many tools to feel better, to  _ be  _ better. And if she wanted to get Ben to take her advice the way she had once taken Finn’s, didn’t she owe it to him to be as upfront with herself as possible about how she felt about him? And couldn’t Dr. Holdo help her do just that?

 

She took a deep breath and looked back at the other woman who was sitting there calmly, expectantly, with a small smile on her lips.

 

“I have a new friend,” she said. “And I...it’s hard to explain. But I feel like we’re the same, somehow.”

 

Dr. Holdo tilted her head some. “Why don’t you try, Rey? Let’s use some comparisons.”

 

“Oh. Okay,” Rey said. She glanced down at her hands, her fingers twined together tightly, and thought of Ben’s hands on hers - hers on his. She tried.

 

“It’s not like Finn and I are the same. We have different backgrounds. But...the way we processed our experiences, our feelings from them...those are similar. We’re both...so  _ lonely _ .” She pursed her lips as she searched for more words to describe how she felt about Ben and how she hoped - and feared - he might someday fit into her life. 

 

“All I know is that he doesn’t feel whole.”

 

“But you feel whole around him?”

 

Rey’s gaze darted to Dr. Holdo and the woman was looking back at her so knowingly -

 

“Yes,” she breathed.

 

“Rey, you held yourself back for so long because you thought you were already where you belonged. I’d like to challenge you today.” 

 

Rey held her breath and Dr. Holdo’s expression softened a bit. 

 

“No tricks, Rey. No coping mechanisms. Just some advice. A friend of mine - a good friend of mine - once risked everything for love. She risked it all and she fell, hard and fast. She had a husband and a baby she didn’t know how to take care of before she knew it, but she kept trying anyway and in the end, she lost nearly everything.”

 

“If this is supposed to be encouraging -” Rey began, but Dr. Holdo gave a short, sharp shake of her head. 

 

“She told me, years ago, when the hurt was still fresh, when all that pain was still making it hard for her to think, let alone function, that she’d do it all again in a heartbeat.” 

 

The older woman reached forward and placed a hand on Rey’s knee. 

 

“You’ll know when it’s right. Whether it’s love, or friendship. You’ve worked so hard to become whole and at one with the life you were given - imperfections, PTSD, whatever it is, you’ve embraced it as part of yourself. You know yourself, Rey. Trust yourself, now. And give yourself the chance to fall. You know how to get back up. And even if the worst happens, maybe it will have been worth it.”

 

Rey shook her head, feeling her lips tremble. She could imagine the depths of grief the woman’s friend had plumbed - she had dealt with her own, so often. Now, thinking of Ben and all that was possible, especially all that was on the line with their current mission, she couldn’t help envisioning that same future being entirely possible. Her voice cracked some when she spoke again.

 

“Even worth the grief of losing a husband? A child?”

 

Dr. Holdo’s voice was soft, but sure.

 

“Even then.”

 

_____________________

  
  


“Rey, he’s obviously crazy about you.”

 

Rey rolled her eyes at Rose and reached for the next tool she needed, only to find Rose already holding it out to her. The other woman was smug.

 

“I saw you fucking roll your eyes at me. Don’t be mad just because I agree with your quack doctor.”

 

“She’s not a quack,” Rey replied patiently. She took the tool with resignation and turned back to the engine she was working on. 

 

“Uh-huh. Sure. So? What’s the hold-up? And don’t tell me it’s this First Corp. thing.”

 

Rey sighed. “Of course it’s the First Corp. thing.”

 

“Well you shouldn’t be worried about that. You shouldn’t even be thinking about it! We still have one foot in planning stages -”

 

“Rose, I appreciate the pep talk, I really do, but it’s not helping.” Rey straightened up. “I’m always thinking about that damned place.”

 

“You mean that damned man.”

 

Rey’s voice dropped. “Kylo.”

 

Rose was quiet for a beat. Then she reached out and put a hand on Rey’s shoulder. “You beat him once.”

 

“It was temporary,” Rey said bitterly. She turned to Rose. “What if he was right? What if I can’t stop him, and Snoke? What if I’m not enough?”

 

Rose gave her a brave smile and squeezed her shoulder. “You don’t have to be enough all by yourself. That’s why you have us. You’re not alone, Rey.” She gave the other woman a sly look. “Maybe you don’t have to be alone, ever. I’m sure Ben -”

 

“Rose!” Rey groaned, cutting her off by tossing a grease rag at her. Rose gave a shout of laughter, just in time to elicit a grin from Finn as he walked in.

 

“What’d I miss?” he asked, smiling easily. 

 

Rose drew back from Rey and crossed her arms. “Hmm? Oh, nothing. Just some girl talk. Hey, did you hear from Maz?”

 

Finn shivered. “I did, the creepy bat. She said she needs to talk to Rey before she can make any commitments.” 

 

“You’d think she was adopting a dog, not picking a color palette,” Rey snarked.

 

“Hey, aesthetics are everything, baby,” Finn said, striking a pose. Rose giggled.

 

“Are you seriously quoting Poe?”

 

Rey sighed again. “All right, all right. If you don’t have anything new to tell me, can I get back to this beauty?” she asked, gesturing to the car in front of her. 

 

Finn groaned. “Rey, why do you love machines more than us?”

 

“You know who doesn’t love machines more than you? Rose,” Rey said, shamelessly outing her friend. “Now get. I have work to do before we meet up later.”

 

Finn, who was looking from Rey to Rose and back with a slightly gobsmacked expression on his face, allowed himself to be chased from the garage by a spanner-wielding Rose, leaving Rey alone with her thoughts.

 

She watched her friends go fondly enough, but was glad for the time alone. She couldn’t hear herself think with so much chatter. Even if the chatter was pleasant enough. Even if it covered topics well-worn in her own mind. Like Ben.

 

She shook her head at her own fancies as she tightened another cap and allowed her hands to travel the intricate path of various wires, searching for loose connections. It wasn’t so far removed from what she did as part of her team - searching for weak links and figuring out how to exploit them, or make them stronger. She was good at seeing patterns in details. It was part of what made her so good at her job within the team. 

 

She hadn’t always been this good at it. There had been a time where she’d thought she was only good at one thing and it had led her into direct conflict - purely by accident - with Kylo Ren of the First Corporation. But some of the things he’d said to her, when she’d accidentally opened a connection with him during her hacking, had triggered something in her. His words and taunts had helped her see new patterns, had helped her realize there were other ways of looking at the same problems - and she’d managed to shut down his system because of it.

 

The encounter, however, hadn’t been worth it in her book. She’d had to change her online handle and go deep underground for months in order to avoid getting picked up by First Corp.’s security team. Kylo Ren, an elusive higher-up within the office of the CEO, had gone on a hunt for her and she’d found traces of his signature all over her usual stomping grounds...she’d felt hunted and that feeling hadn’t entirely gone away.

 

Even now, with as confident and successful as their team had been for the last few missions, Rey couldn’t be certain the time was right to try another takedown of First Corp. Except...there was Ben. 

 

He did something to her -  _ for  _ her. He brought out her confidence, with one glance. One smile, and she was on top of the world. She could do anything with this team by her side. With Ben, she felt like they were complete. Like  _ she _ was complete.

 

Her realization was brought up short as one of her fingers found a rough edge on the underside of the engine. She gave a gasp of pain and brought her hand back up, staring in consternation at the clean slice along her right index finger. Blood welled up in the cut and a single drop rolled down her finger part way before dropping back down to the engine.

 

Rey had never believed in omens. She hadn’t believed in much, to be honest. But suddenly, seeing her blood beading along her finger, she felt like the world was dropping out from under her feet. She immediately stuck her finger in her mouth and closed her eyes.

 

She pictured Ben’s face before hers - bright, strong, with that regal and troubled brow -

 

The world tipped back to rights and she opened her eyes. She blinked once, twice, then took her finger from her mouth, shoved a rag over it, and turned away to go look for a plaster. 

____________________________________________

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've used some British terms in here, from Rey's perspective. My argument is that a) they are the words that came to mind when writing and b) it doesn't matter if where they live is American, British, Canadian, whatever. This is an AU! That's my answer and I'm sticking to it.
> 
> Come find me on Tumblr! @reyhotlips

**Author's Note:**

> I actually have this plotted out by chapter so as long as I can find time to work on it an end is in sight. You can find the inspiration for the fic here: http://juniordreamer.tumblr.com/post/172363042218/roof-squad


End file.
